Publications

November 2005 (Revised December 2007)
Case

Motion Computing, Inc. -- 2004

By: William A. Sahlman and Caroline Perkins

Scott Eckert, the co-founder and CEO of Motion Computing, must decide whether to raise additional capital to support growth. Motion manufactures and distributes Tablet PCs. If the company opts to raise money, it must decide on the source and terms of the financing. View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Financing and Loans; Financial Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Computer Industry; United States

04 Jan 2017
News

Trump's Twitter bark worse than his bite?

16 Aug 2019
Video

Unleashing courage in tomorrow’s leaders

11 Sep 2020
Video

James Mwangi

James Mwangi, CEO of Kenya’s Equity Bank, explains that both international and state-owned banks failed to address the issue that 96 percent of the population had no bank accounts in post-colonial Kenya, and how Equity Bank was able to dramatically expand financial... View Details

January 31, 2019
Article

The Backlash to Larry Fink's Letter Shows How Far Business Has to Go on Social Responsibility

By: Mark R. Kramer

Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, the world’s largest investor with $6 trillion under management, evoked heated controversy with his remarks last week that his company would change its hiring and potentially its compensation structure to advance diversity and ensure that... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose

Find at Harvard

Register to Read

28 Jun 2018
Cold Call Podcast

L.A. Philharmonic Shows the American Symphony Orchestra Isn’t Dead Yet

Keywords: Re: Rohit Deshpande; Entertainment & Recreation; Fine Arts

April 1984
Supplement

Johnson & Johnson (B): Hospital Services, James Burke, Video

By: Francis Aguilar

James Burke, chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson, discusses the decision to establish a hospital services company. The problem is that this new unit, created to serve 14 Johnson & Johnson companies, runs counter to the corporate culture where autonomy and... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Decision Making; Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Health Industry

21 Jul 2021
News

A Conversation on Organizational Trust With Punit Renjen

20 Oct 2017
News

At GE, A New Urgency To Return To Industrial Roots

October 2000 (Revised April 2001)
Case

Cost of Capital at Ameritrade

By: Mark L. Mitchell and Erik Stafford

Ameritrade Holding Corp. is planning large marketing and technology investments to improve the company's competitive position in deep-discount brokerage by taking advantage of emerging economies of scale. In order to evaluate whether the strategy would generate... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Asset Pricing; Cash Flow; Cost of Capital; Investment; Marketing; Mathematical Methods; Competition; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Financial Services Industry

September 2020 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Eaton Corporation: Portfolio Transformation and The Cost of Capital

By: Benjamin C. Esty, E. Scott Mayfield and Daniel Fisher

In 2000, Eaton Corporation was a broadly diversified industrial conglomerate. But its strategy was evolving and its focus was narrowing around “power management” and more recently on “intelligent power,” the use of digitally enabled products and services designed to... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Divisions; Cost of Capital; Corporate Finance; Value; Valuation; Industrial Products Industry; United States; Denmark; Republic of Ireland

September 2017 (Revised July 2023)
Case

Adaptive Platform Trials: The Clinical Trial of the Future?

By: Ariel D. Stern and Sarah Mehta

In July 2017, Dr. Brian M. Alexander, president and CEO of the AGILE Research Foundation, was preparing to launch a new type of clinical trial—an adaptive platform trial—to study potential therapies for glioblastoma (GBM), an aggressive form of brain cancer.... View Details

Keywords: Clinical Trials; Cancer; Adaptive Platform Trials; Platform Trials; Adaptive Trials; Glioblastoma; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Health Testing and Trials; Business Strategy; Innovation Strategy; Health Industry; United States

Other Article

Sidestepping Some of the Partisan Debate: An Interview with Max Stier

By: Aaron K. Chatterji and Michael W. Toffel

Whereas some organizational leaders are engaging in CEO activism by speaking out on social and political issues not directly related to their bottom line, some leaders want to avoid doing so. Some, in fact, hold neutrality as a core component of their strategy. But... View Details

Keywords: Social Issues; Government and Politics; Leadership; Communication Strategy

Register to Read

December 2011 (Revised April 2012)
Case

Transforming Verizon: A Platform for Change

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Matthew Bird

A new CEO steps into the shoes of his long-time predecessor who had created the U.S. telecommunications giant via a series of acquisitions and, before departing, had initiated the company's strategic repositioning. The new CEO reflected on Verizon's recent successes,... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Globalized Firms and Management; Groups and Teams; Telecommunications Industry

February 2004 (Revised April 2007)
Case

Random House

By: Bharat N. Anand, Kyle F. Barnett and Elizabeth Lea Carpenter

On June 12, 2003, the proposed merger of Random House and Time Warner Book Group was called off by the CEO of Random House's parent company, Bertelsmann. The announcement was welcomed by several critics who had questioned the logic of further consolidation in the book... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Information Publishing; Problems and Challenges; Relationships; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Competition; Vertical Integration; Internet; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Publishing Industry

23 Oct 2020
Video

Entrepreneurship Opportunities in a Post-COVID World: The Future of Work

October 2018 (Revised January 2019)
Case

The Financial Crisis: Hank Paulson in 2008

By: Adi Sunderam, Robin Greenwood, Sam Hanson and David Scharfstein

On the afternoon of Monday October 13, 2008, Hank Paulson Jr., the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, walked into the large conference room across the hall from his office in the Treasury Department. Joining him were Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke,... View Details

Keywords: Bailout; Regulation; Financial Crisis; History; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Decision Making; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Real Estate Industry; United States

June 2007
Case

Wal-Mart Mexico: Managing Multiple Formats

By: Rajiv Lal, Mark Rennella and David Lane

"On February 1, 2007, Wal-Mart Mexico (Walmex) CEO Eduardo Solorzano was preparing for a well deserved, two-week vacation on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Things were going well. Wal-Mart Mexico, which consisted principally of six different retail formats, had been... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Growth and Development; Marketing Strategy; Retail Industry; Mexico

May 2004 (Revised May 2006)
Case

AsiaInfo: The IPO Decision

The cofounder and CEO of AsiaInfo, a Chinese system integrator that built 70% of China's Internet backbone, must decide whether to list equity in the United States to fund future growth. Describes the company and the decision. A rewritten version of a previous case. View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Initial Public Offering; Growth Management; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Equity; Information Technology Industry; China; United States